Nojan Medinei

Michael Herles

In Iran, buildings considered ziggurats or high temples can be distinguished from Mesopotamian ziggurats by their means of access. External flights of steps are always missing from monumental buildings in Iran, yet they are at all times present in Mesopotamia. In Iran, monumental buildings were accessible by ramps.

C. Edmund Bosworth

Antonio Panaino

The origin and development of the idea of a zodiacal circle have been much debated, but now there is a general consensus that a kind of zodiacal belt must have been defined by Babylonian astronomers as early as 700 BCE. In this period the “path” followed by the planets, sun, and moon was divided into 15 constellations.

Paul E. Losensky

Multiple Authors

the name generally known in the West for the prophet of ancient Iran, whose transformation of his inherited religion inaugurated a movement that eventually became the dominant religion in Iran up until the triumph of Islam.